If SEC football fans aren't familiar with Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, they soon will be.

Since Missouri joined the party, Miklasz has been writing more about Southern football. And while he acknowledges an early addiction to the Paul Finebaum Show -- Courage, Bernie, there's help available -- he normally writes an informed column that's never short on opinion.

Monday, December 5, 2011

It's official. Go here for the Ole Miss news release and to hear from Archie himself.

Freeze himself announced it on Twitter a couple of hours ago ...

I asked for a word from God, I found Jeremiah 29:11-14. I have taken the Head Coaching Job at Ole Miss, but it's not without a heavy heart.

And for the great unwashed among you, that passage goes like this ...

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

For the record, that's 3 SEC-Big 10 matchups. That always makes bowl season a little more fun, though I wouldn't be all that surprised if the SEC didn't win a single one of them.

* Count me among those who wanted to see LSU-Oklahoma State. Here's why: If LSU were to defeat OSU, the Tigers would have played and beaten EVERYBODY (everybody in this case being the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th teams in the BCS, along with the teams ranked 16th and 23rd and a couple of other bowl teams for good measure). And if Oklahoma State were to win, they'd claim the title for beating the No. 1 team in the title game. (Besides, I have a bit of an easier time hearing Oklahoma State saying "We deserve a shot" than Alabama saying "We deserve another shot.")

* That said, now that it's LSU-'Bama, might I suggest this new motto for the Magnolia State: MISSSISSIPPI: BORDERING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS SINCE 2009.

* Congratulations to East Mississippi Community College, which claimed the national juco title with a 55-47 win over Arizona Western College in the El Toro Bowl on Saturday. (Story here.) Let's see ... No. 1 playing No. 2, on one team's home field (in this case, top-ranked Arizona Western) ... that all sounds vaguely familiar.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Update: The deal is done. LSU and Alabama finish 1, 2. The Rematch is on.

First things first: Congratulations to the University of Georgia. For one magical half, they made LSU look tepid and slow. They made Jordan Jefferson look like, well, the Jefferson of yesteryear. They made the Tigers' defense look disorganized. They took the fight to a bigger team and overwhelmed them for 30 minutes. They showed, particularly on defense, how much they've grown.

But they kept dropping the stupid ball.

In the end, the Bulldogs learned what every other team on LSU's schedule already knows. Get to the Les Miles' team early. Otherwise, the window closes. The vise tightens. The chances of victory, already small, become shards, and then shards again.

LSU is that good. Only one team has traded blows with them in the middle of the ring. That team is Alabama, which lost in overtime to the Bengals in Tuscaloosa, and at this hour appears to be the last detail standing before one helluva party breaks out in the bayous.

Ah, that last detail.

An imperfect system has one job: to pick the two best teams. This year, there are two teams with viable arguments for a single spot. Oklahoma State couldn't have asked for a better closing argument than the utter humiliation of its despised rival before a national audience Saturday night. But that will have to do for this year.

The computers and the human voters and coaches and the alchemists secretly manipulating the BCS data from some castle in the Balkans all had their say on Sunday. It appears the SEC will have its sixth straight national championship. It will still be five weeks, however, before we know which name goes on the trophy.

LSU's opponent officially comes out of the hat tonight on ESPN. But the tweets have been singing like cicadas throughout the day, and the din keeps pointing toward Alabama. Nick Saban's team had its shot, true. But his team played an almost identical season to LSU's. Alabama was every bit as dominant playing an eerily similar brand of football. On Nov. 5, one team made three field goals; the other made two. That's it.

Sure it's unfair for LSU to have played an extra game and now have to beat the Tide a second time. But as deserving a titleist as LSU would be, coronations for national champs went out when the BCS came in. No more bad matchups because of conference affiliations. The two best teams settle things. Period.

And that's what will happen Jan. 9. The two best teams from the best conference. Everyone else will be home watching. Even for the SEC, that will be a first.

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Contributors

Michael Gordon

Allegiance: Alabama
Favorite player: Johnny Musso . . . The Italian Stallion -- Sylvester Stallone is a plagiarist -- played more often in torn garb than the Incredible Hulk. (Musso was also a better blocker.)

Possibly disturbing fact: Trash-talked the infant son of Auburn friends after the kid projectile vomited in my living room the instant after an Alabama touchdown.

Possibly disturbing fact: Have an original 45 of “The Ballad of Archie Who” on the wall at home, right by the “Drink Barq’s – It’s Good” sign.

Courtney St. Onge

Allegiance: Auburn

Favorite player: Bo

Possibly disturbing fact: Had picture taken with Terry Bowden at a meet-and-greet following his undefeated season. Just for fun, I mailed it to him later, autographed by my uncle and me. Who knew he would actually need the "Good luck in your endeavors!"?

Other fact: It was my infant son that Michael Gordon trash-talked. Just so you know.

Possibly disturbing fact: Once thought it would be funny to teach my toddler to say "Roll Tide!" We practiced covertly. Then, one day, my wife the Auburn grad walked in. "Roll Tide!" my son said, perfectly. Turned out to be more funny in the conceptual stage.

Tommy Tomlinson

Allegiance: Georgia

Favorite player: The immortal Herschel Walker, who, by the way, is immortal

Possibly disturbing fact: Slept in car one Georgia-Florida weekend after last-minute decision to go to game. Sneaked into Jacksonville University dorms for showers. Thanks for lax security, Jax!